


5 times the Avengers almost found out Peter's identity

by denyingmyselfalways



Series: How Tony Stark accidentally became a dad [9]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (natasha knows btw), 5+1 Things, A civil-war fix-it, Blood and Torture, Gen, No one hates each other, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Sorry guys, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Friendly, Torture and stuff, also some minor Spidey-chelle because I couldn't help myself, and the one time it was, but enough, eventual spider-man reveal, five times peter's identity was almost outed to the avengers, no one except tony and peter know it though, nothing too huge, peter has minor anxiety, peter officially meeting the avengers for the first time, someone help me, spider-man is an official avenger in this fic, steve rogers friendly, the Avengers are talking now, tony stark being domestic, tony stark is such a dad, violence towards the end
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-06 03:09:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15185423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denyingmyselfalways/pseuds/denyingmyselfalways
Summary: And the one time they did.Tony shattered the silence. “You seem surprised, why are you surprised?”Peter just blinked, focusing on Tony’s face. “But... I-ngg... uh,” Peter shook his head and huffed out a nervous laugh. “It’s the Avengers.”“Did Happy not fill you in?” Tony looked amused. Peter was just glad he wasn’t angry.Then it clicked. “Oh, that’s what he had been talking about! Sorry, I... uh...” his voice trailed off as his brain tried to catch up with his mouth. Sure, he’d either fought with or against most of these guys before, but it was a lot different when they showed up at your house. Or Tony’s house. Whatever.“Wasn’t paying attention?” Tony finished for him, amusement now obvious to the rest of the team, who were all looking back and forth between him and Tony like they had both grown a second head.Peter had enough brain cells left to look semi-sheepish. “Right. Sorry.”





	1. homework

**Author's Note:**

> Just for clarification, the Guardians, Vision, Scott, T'challa, Dr. Strange, Wanda, Thor, and Rhodey are not among the Avengers at the table.  
> Vision is dead, Wanda is mourning, and the rest are abroad.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

It had become a routine. Go through school each day. Go home to check up with May. Patrol. Repeat until Friday. Get picked up by Happy. Stay at the compound over the weekend. Get dropped off at school on Monday. Repeat.

Tony often worked in the lab with him while he visited, but only after he finished his homework. Other times, however, when there was nothing to work on, they would just hang out, watching movies and eating crap, which still weirded Peter out a little. It was extremely domestic of Tony, and Peter suspected if any of the other Avengers were here, he might not be so outward about caring for him.

The rogue Avengers had officially been pardoned since the end of what the world called the ‘Infinity War’, but all of them had yet to return home. Most of the Avengers that hadn’t been fugitives were also abroad, trying to put out the flames that the ‘war’ had caused. Tony was left to deal with the fires at home virtually alone. Pepper was there off and on, but Peter noticed that she didn’t come often or stay long. A day or two at most and then another few weeks of disappearance. She probably had a lot on her plate at the moment as well. And Tony was handling it fairly well. But he was incredibly busy. He was so busy he sometimes had to make Peter run maintenance on his own because he had a phone call to make or an email to send. And as much as it disappointed Peter, he understood. He couldn’t be the most important all the time.

So Peter was there for Tony when no one else could be. He knew his presence calmed the billionaire for some reason, with the way his shoulders would slump in relief when Peter arrived, or the easy smile that would take over his face when he thought Peter wasn’t looking, or the way he would spontaneously decide to come with Happy to pick Peter up because he was ‘in the neighborhood’.

Peter doesn’t understand _why_ his presence calms Tony, just that it _does_ , and that’s all that he needs to know.

So visiting the compound has become a routine. It’s still surreal, but not in a ‘I wish I could achieve that’ kind of way, but in a ‘I’m so blessed this is my life’ kind of way.

And Happy’s sarcastic comments have become routine as well, so when Peter puts his bags in the trunk and first enters the back of the Audi that the driver has pulled up in that Friday, he already has his earbuds in and is blasting AC/DC to drown out the snark.

The hour ride slips by quickly with his music and his thoughts. He thinks of his latest patrol and the child he pulled out of the way of an oncoming car. He thinks of that one Star Wars Lego set that Ned’s little brother destroyed and they’d have to rebuild. He thinks of MJ and why she always calls him a loser when there are much more creative names to call him, like the ones she sticks on Flash. He wonders what Tony will have him work on or if it’ll be just another hangout weekend.

And before he knows it, they’re here.

He manages to hide his fangirling as he takes in the compound. But barely. Just barely.

Happy turns around to look at him straight in the face, and Peter barely catches, “You get all that?” from underneath the music pulsing into his ears.

Peter pulls out an earbud. “Hmm? Oh, uh, yeah. Yeah, I got it.”

Happy squints at him for a second before grunting something that sounded like he was cursing at teenagers for being so difficult and Tony for making him babysit.

Peter just ignored him, opening the door and practically leaping out. “I got my bags, Happy, thanks for the lift!”

He grabbed his bags from the trunk and completely missed Happy’s small smile and shake of the head.

Knowing he’d have to finish his homework before Tony would do anything with him, (‘do as I say, not as I do’ Tony had said when he’d protested) he dropped his suitcase off at the door and immediately headed straight to the mega fridge to pick up a tub of ice cream to get him through the English essay that was due on Monday.

Sensing someone behind him with his ‘sixth sense’, he didn’t bother turning around. “Hey Mr. Stark,” he called over his shoulder, trying to dig through and find the mint chip, “I’m gonna head up to my room to get started on my essay, I’ll be done in about an hour, can you-”

He whipped around as his Spider-sense went crazy and caught the pen that had been hurtling towards the back of his neck.

He frowned at the pen for a moment before his eyes focused on the scene in front of him and his jaw dropped.

The entire Avengers team sat at the dining room table, staring at him.

For a full ten seconds, no one said anything.

Tony, of course, shattered the silence. “You seem surprised, why are you surprised?”

Peter just blinked, focusing on Tony’s face. “But... I-ngg... uh,” Peter shook his head and huffed out a nervous laugh. “It’s the Avengers.”

“Did Happy not fill you in?” Tony looked amused. Peter was just glad he wasn’t angry.

Then it clicked. “Oh, that’s what he had been talking about! Sorry, I... uh...” his voice trailed off as his brain tried to catch up with his mouth. Sure, he’d either fought with or against most of these guys before, but it was a lot different when they showed up at your house. Or Tony’s house. Whatever. And it wasn’t like he was wearing his mask, so: _hello anxiety._ Yay.

“Wasn’t paying attention?” Tony finished for him, amusement now obvious to the rest of the team, who were all looking back and forth between him and Tony like they had both grown a second head.

Peter had enough brain cells left to look semi-sheepish. “Right. Sorry.”

“Wait, hold up,” Clint held up a hand like he was trying to physically stop the conversation. “Do you have a secret family too? Cause there is no way you and Pepper decided to have kids that long ago and none of us noticed.”

“What?!” Peter and Tony both snapped at the same time, which probably wasn’t helping their case.

Clint pointed at Peter, “Are you not his son?”

Peter busted out in nervous laughter, “ _What?_ Noooohohoho. I’m just, I, I’m just an intern.”

Clint’s eyes narrowed at the backpack over one shoulder, just as a skeptical ‘Riiiiiiiiight,’ came from Sam.

Peter sputtered, looking at Tony for support – who seemed just as out of his depth as Peter did – when Steve Rogers himself stood up and walked over to Peter, drawing everyone’s eyes.

“You must be Peter,” he said extending a hand towards the kid, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“You knew about this?!” came Sam’s voice, but Peter ignored it and warily accepted the handshake.

“Firm grip,” Steve muttered, almost to himself.

“Thanks,” Peter said, unsure whether to bow down at his feet or punch him for hurting Tony. Maybe both.

Steve just smiled a little and walked back over to his seat. A couple of his teammates were looking at him questioningly, but a subtle shake of his head made them back down.

The silence stretched for a moment until Natasha leaned forward, “So you’re... Stark’s intern? What do you do?”

Peter tugged at his sleeve, trying to release some of the adrenaline pumping through him. He’d need to go through a couple of those punching bags that Tony had modified for Captain America later to get back down to his usual amount of energy. “Uh, I... I do maintenance. On the A.I.’s and the suits and stuff. When To-Mr. Stark is busy.”

“And when he’s not busy?” Natasha raised an eyebrow and Peter got this sick feeling in his stomach. She knew. Of course, she did.

“Alright, alright,” Tony interrupted, bailing Peter out of the hole that he’d begun to dig. “Stop grilling my intern.”

He stood, drawing everyone’s eyes to him, causing Peter to slump in relief. “If you’ve got homework then go work on it and come down when you’re finished. You can take a tub of ice cream, but not the moose tracks, I call dibs.”

Peter shrugged, turning back to the still-open fridge. “I was looking for mint chip anyway.”

He could practically hear Tony’s look of disgust. “I don’t know how you eat that stuff. It tastes like toothpaste.”

“Maybe I like toothpaste,” Peter retorted, finding the last tub hidden in the back and grabbing it. This was easy. Banter was easy.

“Are you sure he doesn’t want to stay?” Steve’s voice cut through Peter’s gauzy thin calm.

Peter turned back, ice cream in hand. The others threw confused looks towards the super soldier. This meeting must be about Avengers stuff. It hit him. Tony must’ve told Steve. Steve was asking if Peter wanted to stay. To join.

Peter looked at Tony, but Tony was waiting for his answer.

“Thank you for the offer, Captain. But I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Tony threw a sharp look at Steve. The warning was clear. Don’t push it.

But Peter just smiled. “I’ve got homework.”


	2. the widow

Peter would never say that he got used to seeing the Avengers most weekends, but it became a regular thing for him to see them roaming around the compound, doing completely mundane things that weirded him out as much as Tony watching Stranger Things with him did.

As someone who still wasn’t quite used to having Spider-powers after about two years of having them, seeing the Avengers team on a daily basis was a little overwhelming. Especially after telling Ned, because Ned made him swear that he would get Thor’s autograph, and Peter hadn’t even seen Thor in the entire time the Avengers had been there.

But, eventually, it became a sort of routine. Peter would say hi to a couple of them after putting his stuff in the bedroom Tony had prepared for him, and then go down to work in the lab. Now that the Avengers knew he helped with maintenance, they began taking their stuff to him instead of Tony, claiming that he was much less difficult when it came to them asking for help. ~~To which Tony scoffed, but couldn’t argue.~~

Peter was so thrilled that the Avengers were speaking to him, he always agreed to repair their gear. Tony would shoot him this betrayed look every time the others would come down to deliver broken things, but Peter didn’t miss the slightly proud look in his eyes.

Even Sam eventually let him work on Redwing after promising to be _super_ careful, and not to get too many teenage hormones on it or anything. Peter laughed nervously and swore on his life not to hurt the little thing, who reminded him a lot of his Spider-drone.

So even if he was never quite used to it, he was almost used to it. Almost. But then, life with the Avengers isn’t always quite fun and games.

It was Saturday evening when Peter was once again reminded of that fact. Tony had left him in the lab alone to work on repairs to Steve’s ‘shield magnet’, as Steve called it. It had been slightly damaged in the fight and was causing the shield to fall off his arm halfway through the battle. The Avengers were upstairs watching some adult thing that Tony had refused to let Peter see, as they did every Saturday, which was part of what Tony called their ‘fix-it’ project. Trying to get back the way things used to be.

Peter finished calibrating the weight of the shield and magnet strength with the momentum and confirmed that the ‘shield-magnet’ was now fully operational. He wrapped the band around his arm, and attached the shield, carrying it upstairs to give back to Steve. That’s when Peter heard it: voices.

He frowned, halfway up the stairs to the second floor where the Avengers were lounging one room over. These voices were not theirs. No, they were coming from the ground floor. He crept up the remaining stairs, waiting until the people speaking got close enough for Peter to hear.

“Yeah, he managed to hide us from the view of the cameras. Don’t know how he did it with Stark’s AI’s recording everything.”

“I can’t believe we actually infiltrated the Avengers Compound.”

“Stop getting a fanboy boner and keep your voice down. We don’t want them hearing.”

Peter smirked. A little late for that.

“So what’s the plan?” the other guy responded and he had to strain to hear their now whispering voices as they got closer.

“Get the kid. The one our intel spotted going home with that over-paid butler every weekend. He should be here. Once we have him it’s a free ticket to the Iron Man suits. Maybe more.”

Peter cocked his head, trying to figure out where they were in the building. He heard their feet walking up a set of stairs towards his right. They must have come in the side entrance and were making their way towards his location in the hallway. He looked in either direction, but there was nowhere to go but either back into the lab with all the equipment, or towards the two (or more) bad guys who were about to block his path to the rest of the Avengers.

He heard them begin to round the staircase that spiraled up to the end of the hallway directly across from him. He calculated as they grew ever closer. The room the Avengers were in was also at the end of the hallway but to the left, and he most likely couldn’t make it in time. Even if he did, the men would come in right behind him, causing their plan to most likely be successful.

He clenched his jaw and sighed. If there was any way to out his identity as Spider-Man, it might as well be saving his own skin.

“Alright, boys,” Natasha’s voice floated from the lounge as the first flicker of motion caught Peter’s eye. “I’m gonna go pee. Don’t bother to pause it, I already know what happens.”

Peter was in midair before the first mercenary (or what Peter assumed was a mercenary) had completely stepped onto the floor.

He saw Natasha slip into the hallway out of the corner of his eye, but he was too busy slamming Cap’s shield into the first guy’s face. The next came barreling up the stairs, but Peter knocked him out with a single punch, causing the last guy to hesitate three steps down. He slowly raised his hands, the gun clattering to the floor.

Peter took a step back, looking at Natasha who hadn’t moved from her spot in front of the door, and she raised a single eyebrow, a tiny smile pulling at the corners of her lips. Her gaze switched to the last man, and she raised her arm and fired a taser, just as the rest of the Avengers rushed out the door.

“What the hell happened?!” Tony snapped, staring at the bodies lining the floor.

Natasha turned hallway to cock her head at him. “Looks like someone got past your firewall, Stark. Went after the kid. Good thing I was here, or he might not look quite so cute anymore,” she stepped over to Peter and ruffled his hair good-naturedly as if taking down three armed guys was usual for her.

Peter’s gaze shifted nervously from Natasha to Tony, to Bucky, who was intently staring at the men on the floor, to Steve, who was frowning at the shield in his hand.

“Oh! Oh, uh...” Peter hastily pulled the band that held the shield off his forearm. “It should be good now.”

Steve gave him a small smile as he stepped forward, taking the shield from Peter. “Thanks, kid. I owe you one.”

“It’s an honor, really.”

“Alright, alright, stop drooling all over the Captain's shoes. Their designer. I would know. I designed them,” Tony said, taking Steve’s place by Peter side as the Captain stepped back. “You okay, kid?”

Peter nodded, tugging at one sleeve, “Yeah, I mean. Thanks to Natasha.”

The rest of the team seemed to accept this, Sam shooting him a glare and telling him not to get himself killed because he didn’t want Tony getting his nasty hands anywhere near Redwing.

“I literally made him for you!” Tony protested at the man’s back, but Sam ignored him. Clint gave his hair an extra ruffling, as if Nat hadn’t messed it up enough already, and lead the others back to the lounge area, leaving only Tony, Peter, and Natasha behind.

“But seriously, you good?” Tony asked, looking Peter over, checking with his hands to see if he’d been hurt at all.

“I’m fine, Tony, it’s not like I haven’t taken down a couple of thugs before,” Peter said but allowed him to finish conducting his search for injuries, ignoring the way that Tony’s hands were shaking.

As soon as he was satisfied that no harm had come to his protégé, he turned to Nat. “So you did know?”

She just smirked and reached up to fix Peter’s hair. “The little Spider did well. He may even be better than you someday.”

“Don’t you doubt it,” Tony murmured as Natasha called FRIDAY (who was back online now that the men had been apprehended) and told her to send someone to pick up the unconscious men. Then he grinned as she walked back into the lounge. “I knew she knew. Rhodey owes me ten bucks.”

Peter frowned. “Why do you need ten bucks? You’re a billionaire.”

Tony chuckled and threw an arm around Peter, walking him up the stairs to where Peter’s bedroom waited. “The satisfaction, my little intern, the satisfaction. So, tell me, how was fighting with Steve’s shield?”

Peter’s eyes lit up. “Oh my gosh it was the most surreal experience ever! It’s like so perfectly balanced, that guys face never even stood a chance.”

Tony laughed again, flicking on the light in to illuminate the bedroom he’d had predesigned for Peter. Star Wars merch, legos, Harry Potter, Comic books, Half-built computers, textbooks over quantum physics because why not? It hadn’t changed much since Peter moved in, just more personable. (Read: messy) Clothes were strewn on the floor, bed slightly rumpled, pictures littering the walls of him, and his aunt, and Ned, and Tony, and MJ, and the decathlon team, and Tony took it all in and smiled.

“What?” Peter asked, moving into the room and collapsing onto the bed.

Tony just shook his head. “I’m just... glad you’re okay.”

Peter knew he was talking about more than just the three guys today, but he kept it on that subject, knowing Tony didn’t like saying what he felt outright. “I’m just glad Natasha was there because if she wasn’t my identity _might_ have been pretty obvious.”

Tony crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe. “I’m surprised they haven’t figured it out at this point. You’re a terrible liar. I mean, Natasha knows because she’s Natasha, and I told Rhodes and Steve, but other than that, they’re completely...” he sighed and shook his head.

“Oblivious?”

“I was going to say stupid, but hey, oblivious works. Now it’s definitely too late for you, and I’ve got to get back to the movie that they’ve probably started again without me, so it’s to bed with you.”

“It’s only eleven!”

“Yeah, and you’re still a child, so: go to bed!” Tony flicked off the lights and ignored the protests of the baby Spider as he made his way back down to the rest of his team.

Peter sighed, giving into the drowsiness that had been tugging at his sleeve for the past half hour, and drifted off to sleep, knowing that for tonight, at least, no nightmares would haunt him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there are any mistakes or anything seems out of character, please tell me.  
> I'm sorry that I only post at like midnight, but that's actually when I write best. Thanks for reading!


	3. sirens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please tell me if anything seems OOC, or if I contradicted myself because this fic was a little rushed. 
> 
> Also, if anyone wants to go back and reread parts of this series, I'm constantly revising and making my fics (hopefully) better. They're pretty much the same, I just add a little more stuff in, so if you want to, go check out the old stuff.

The third time that his identity was almost outed to the Avengers was not as Peter Parker, nor was it on a weekend. It was on a Tuesday, as Spider-Man. Peter had actually taken a break from patrolling for a while. He and Tony had agreed not to let Peter use the Iron Spider suit unless for Avenging business or unless it would save his life. The original suit was much easier to do maintenance on, and the metal plating wasn’t really necessary for fending off bank robbers.

However, that’s not why Peter took a few weeks. It was because he was scared. He’d been Spider-Man when he’d died, and though he logically knew that even if he’d stayed on earth as Peter he would’ve gone anyways, his brain had correlated the two factors and caused him to freak out every time he put on the suit, Iron or otherwise.

He’d managed to get back into it just before he’d started staying over at the compound on the weekends, but he’d made it clear to his mentor he would not be doing any Avenging anytime soon. Nor were his anxiety levels low enough for him to meet the Avengers as Spider-Man without having a possible panic attack and Tony was quick to agree and let him have his recovery period.

However, the Avengers had heard of this Spider-dude and wanted Tony to introduce Spider-Man to the team. Tony had come up with enough of a convincing backstory for the reason why he and Peter were so close, so no one really suspected him of being the Spider, but every time the conversation came up, his panic levels spiked.

So, to say he was anxious when the entire Avengers team (minus Steve, Natasha, and Tony) stopped him on the street halfway through his patrol would be an understatement. Even Scott, who’d moved into the compound recently, was there, hoping to figure out who this other bug-themed hero was, and Wanda, back from wherever she’d been. Thankfully, none of them were in their superhero outfits, but they were still incredibly recognizable, and people were starting to stare.

“So, Spider-ling, why are you trying to avoid us?” Sam asked, arms crossed.

Peter backed up a step, anxiety kicking in. “Uh, hey, guys,” his voice shook, but Karen’s (now more normal-sounding) voice changer had already kicked in, so he knew his identity was safe. “I’m not avoiding you, I just have, you know, lots of super-heroing to do and all that. I was planning on meeting you, really, I just hadn’t gotten to it. It’s not that I didn’t want to... nope that’s not-”

“Kid, it’s okay, look, we just wanted to talk,” Scott interjected, putting a placating hand up. “Maybe get a cup of coffee or something. I don’t know if you drink that sort of stuff.”

“To-to... talk?”

Wanda cocked her head at him, frowning. “You are just a child.”

“Hey, lady, looking inside people’s heads is not cool!” he managed to get out, projecting confidence like a mask, and jabbing a finger at her. “It’s called a _secret_ identity for a reason, you know. Also, I’m 17, so... not really a _chi-_ ”

Wanda smiled a little. “I don’t need to look into your head to know that you are young.”

Peter relaxed somewhat at that. “Oh. So, you _don’t_ know who I am?”

“Should we?” Clint asked, squinting suspiciously.

“No! No, no, no, I just meant... she can- you know! I thought...” he made a frustrated sound that came out like a growl with the voice modifier. “I thought she-”

The sound of a distant siren cut him off. Relief flooded through him as the adrenaline began kicking in, prepping his body for what it was meant to do. He started backing away, hoping the Avengers wouldn’t hate him for leaving in the middle of their conversation.

“Sorry, guys, duty calls. Don’t bother following me, I know what I’m doing.” They looked at him in confusion. “What?” he asked, pausing.

“What do you mean, duty calls?” Bruce asked, looking around the road as if searching for some unknown threat.

It took three awkward seconds for Peter to realize only he could hear the siren. “Oh, right!” he smacked his forehead. “I forgot to tell you I have... enhanced senses. And... there are sirens. Which means I have to go... you know. Superhero,” he was backing away again, hating the way his words skipped around and the way his hands shook.

They just stared at him skeptically, except Bucky who just nodded solemnly. “Yup. Tony was right. You’re definitely a lot like Steve used to be. Full of crap.”

He may have defended himself if it had been Tony or May calling him out, but he was so pumped with adrenaline at this point, with the panic and the sirens, he just turned and ran.

“Wait!” Bruce yelled after him, but he didn’t stop.

As he shot his webs at the nearest building, he caught Sam’s voice barely reaching his ears. “I don’t know, man. He feels weirdly familiar.”

“I mean, he was in Germany,” Bucky replied.

“Maybe that’s it.”

Then they were too far out of range for Peter to hear any more of the conversation. “Karen, text Mr. Stark.”

“What would you like me to say to Mr. Stark?”

“I don’t understand how you keep secrets in that compound of yours. The Avengers are nosy as crap.”

“Ready to send?”

“Send.”

Peter ignored the barrage of texts from Tony of ‘what’d they do?!’ the entire time he was thwarting a jewelry store theft. When Tony asked him about it again on the weekend, he just shook his head and said, “Mr. Stark, do you care about my emotional well-being?”

Tony squinted at him, pausing typing on the screen in front of him. “Is this a trick question?”

“No.”

“Then yes.”

“Please tell your teammates to stop bothering Spider-Man. I almost peed myself when they showed up in Queens.”

Tony sighed. “I’ll talk to them.”

“Thanks.”

Tony must have said something right because the team never stopped Spider-Man on the street again. Maybe he’d had Nat threaten them. Who knows. Peter was just glad he had both Tony and the Black Widow on his side.


	4. sensitivity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the anxiety attack is a little different than a normal one, I wanted to make it so that he was reliving it, so if it doesn't seem right, I'm sorry.  
> Also, please tell me if anything seems OOC because that annoys me, and I want to know.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, I love all of your comments so much and you guys are the best!

Honestly, Peter’s luck is just... the worst. He _had_ to be at the compound when the minor earthquake hit. He couldn’t have been at home or something where Aunt May could have helped. Or out as Spider-Man, so he could hide in some alley to wait it out. But no.

Although uncommon, earthquakes in New York were not unheard of, although most of them were minor. This one was no different, barely hitting above the 2.3 mark, but Peter, with his enhanced senses, felt every minute of it.

He and Tony were in the lab, working on a new prototype for the War Machine suit, trying to create something different than Iron Man, but still with the Stark Industries touch. Tony seemed content to listen to Peter talk while they worked: about school and patrolling and Star Wars and MJ – who he still wouldn’t admit to having a crush on – half paying attention to the mostly one-sided conversation, half to what his hands were doing.

Then Peter felt it. Vibrations. His sentence slammed to a halt as the vibrations faded out, but he didn’t pick up where he’d left off, only concentrating on the floor and what it might do.

“Pete?” came Tony’s voice from across the lab, “What’s up kid, you just... Peter?”

It happened again. The shaking.

Peter grasped at the table that he was standing in front of, trying to solidify himself in reality, but he couldn’t help but remember the last time a building shook around him, as he had realized too late what was about to happen.

 ** _BOOM. BOOM. BOOM._** The wingsuit practically shattered the last pillar and the ceiling caved in, crumbling, shaking, _vibrating._ It was happening again. He was going to be buried and no one would know. He would die here, and no one would care.

“Peter?! Kid, come on, talk to me, what are you seeing?” Tony’s voice cut through his hysteria. Tony? Tony was... here?

The room came back into focus for a moment, Tony’s worried face obscuring most of his view, but Peter forced himself to remember that he was not in an abandoned warehouse. He was in the Avengers compound. One of the most stable facilities in New York. And Tony was here, holding him at arms-length, both of them sitting on the floor. He must have fallen.

But then the building shook again, and Peter copied it, his whole body tensing in anticipation of the few tons of concrete that was about to fall.

“Peter, speak to me! Words; use your words!”

He opened his mouth but couldn’t respond because of all the dust and grime that was choking him, and his mask-! He had to get his mask off or he would suffocate, and he reached up, scraping at the mask that wasn’t there.

 _“Peter!_ FRIDAY get the others down here, I want to know what’s going on!” Tony’s voice cracked but he didn’t seem to care, and Peter reached out, grabbing onto his arms to try and comfort him, but then Tony was gone again, and all he could see was his reflection in the grimy water.

“I don’t care who, get anyone!” someone shouted far away, and Peter called out to them.

 _“Help! Please, I’m stuck. Please! I’m down... I’m down here, I can’t-! I can’t move...”_ he knew he was crying, but he didn’t care. He was stuck again, and he couldn’t get out and the tremors in the building didn’t stop even though it had already collapsed on top of him. Why wouldn’t it stop?

The lab came back into view and Tony, Steve, Nat, Wanda, Scott, Bruce, and Sam were staring down at him, and he wondered why they weren’t helping him get out. Why were they just standing there, couldn’t they see he was dying?

“Please, I’m dying, please...someone help... I can’t-!” he was cut off by a sob and he was shaking so violently now that Tony couldn’t hold on to his arms.

“Peter, please tell me what you see. Tell me what’s going on,” Steve said, and Peter slammed his eyes shut, trying to block out the image of the warehouse and the blinding lights of the lab and the concern in everyone’s faces.

“It happened again. The building is dead and so am I and no one even knows.” Peter ground out, hoping they would understand.

“What building?” Natasha asked, her calm voice angering him. Why didn’t they get it?

“This one! This _\- I’m not strong enough to lift it all!_ I’m stuck, please get me out, I- he did it again, he killed the building, and no one will know-!”

The tremors had slowed and became fewer and farther between, and Peter’s heart rate began to slow with them.

Tony pulled Peter towards him and enveloped him in his arms, not letting Peter get away. Perhaps this should have made him panic more, but for some reason, it didn’t. This was Tony. This was safe.

“You aren’t stuck, you’re right here, the building is fine and so are you. You are absolutely fine.” Tony murmured quietly enough so the others couldn’t hear. He went on like that for a while as Peter’s hysteria faded and the lab completely came back into view.

He blinked a few times, trying to collect himself. “Uh... sorry?” he managed with a cracking voice.

“Sorry?!” Scott burst, “What the heck kid, are you trying to give us all heart attacks?!”

The other Avengers mumbled their agreement, concern spilling from their words.

Peter laughed nervously. “No?”

“What was that?” Steve asked, drawing everyone’s eyes as he stood from his kneeling position.

Peter hesitated, glancing at Tony who had let go of him once he’d come back from his panic attack. “I- um... one time...” Peter bit the inside of his cheek and pulled his knees to his chest. “I don’t like talking about it.”

“Well tough luck cause you kinda freaked us all out,” Sam interjected, crossing his arms over his chest like he was trying to intimidate Peter into speaking.

“Sam,” Steve chastised, before turning to Peter. “You don’t have to tell us now if you don’t want to, but... we need to know something like that won’t happen again.”

Peter reached up to grab the lip of the desk and pulled himself up. “Well sorry Captain, but you can’t know that. It probably will.”

Steve frowned, opening his mouth, but Peter just turned to Tony, who’s hand was hovering in the air between them as if not sure whether to touch his intern or not. “A building collapsed on top of me once. It was kinda traumatic. I don’t like talking about it.”

Everyone immediately started talking at him, but Tony’s voice dominated the others. “Wait, when was this?! How come I didn’t know about this?”

Peter shot him a warning look, and Tony shut his mouth. “It was a long time ago,” he lied. “You saved me.”

“If he saved you, shouldn’t he know about it?” Wanda asked in that scarily silky voice of hers.

Peter hesitated for a moment. “Like I said, it was a long time ago. We... I didn’t work for him then.”

“Why did you just now get a panic attack then? What set it off?” Bruce asked.

“The earthquake,” Peter responded. He thought that would’ve been obvious.

The rest of the team frowned, looking at him in confusion. “What earthquake?” Steve asked as if voicing everyone’s thoughts.

Peter mentally berated himself as he finally understood. No one else could have felt that. He only could because he was Spider-Man. He just shrugged, trying to play it off. “There was definitely an earthquake.”

The team seemed to hesitate before Tony looked at the ceiling. “FRIDAY?”

“There was indeed an earthquake that ended 1.4 minutes ago rated 2.3 on the Richter scale.” The sterile female voice responded from invisible speakers.

“How on earth did you feel a 2.3 level earthquake?” Scott asked, still looking supremely freaked out and confused.

Peter shrugged again. “I guess I’m sensitive.”

“That’s an understatement,” Sam muttered, reaching over and ruffling Peter’s hair. What was it with the Avengers and messing up his hair?

Steve gave Sam the ‘eyebrows of disappointment’, but Sam just smiled a bit. “If you ever need to deal with that sort of stuff, I may be able to help. Feel free to talk anytime.”

Peter scrunched up his shoulders and nodded. He just wanted everyone to go away so he could talk to Tony. He loved the Avengers, but sometimes they could get a little overwhelming.

“Alright, guys, file out. I know I was the one who called you down here, but I didn’t expect the Calvary, and you know how I feel about people in my lab who don’t know how to work the microwave.”

“To be fair, the microwave has more buttons than a piano has keys,” Wanda shot back over her shoulder as she walked out.

“I mean, what kind of microwave has a chaos button?” Scott added as he followed her.

The others hesitated a bit, glancing at Peter, but they must’ve felt that he was fine, because they eventually all trickled out, with a few ‘are you sure you’re okays?’ and a couple more hair ruffling’s.

Tony sighed once mother-hen Steve eventually left, then turned on Peter. “What the heck, Peter? A building fell on you? How-?”

“The vulture dude dropped a building on me when I went after him during homecoming. I got out. It’s fine now,” Peter said, turning back to his project laid out on the table.

Tony grabbed Peter’s shoulder and pushed so that he was facing him. “No, no, no, no. It’s not fine. I mean it obviously isn’t because you’re getting attacks. That was... intense Peter. I thought you were actually dying.”

“But I’m not.”

“I know that _now_ , but why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

Peter looked down, not saying anything for a moment. “I don’t like talking about it.”

Tony dropped his hand from Peter’s shoulder and sighed. “Okay. Just...” he shook his head. “Try to tell me if something happens like that again, because I don’t know what would happen if I- we lost you.”

Peter looked up slowly, not completely smiling, but almost.

Tony rolled his eyes and opened his arms before Peter crashed into him and suffocated him with a hug. “I mean, who would fix all of their gear now that they won’t let me near it?”

Peter laughed, allowing himself to shake slightly now that the others were gone. Because with Tony it was okay to be broken.

Because Tony was a mechanic. He helped fix Peter when he was broken. No matter what.

“You know they're going to ask me how you were so sensitive to the vibrations of the earthquake.”

Peter’s breath caught slightly at the memory of his panic, but he let it out slowly and regained his composure. “You’re Tony Stark. You’ll think of something.”


	5. MJ

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this doesn't have much of Tony in it, but I wanted a Michelle chapter. I hope you enjoy!

Peter had decided that he’d never again allow Tony to call in the rest of the Avengers when taking care of some super villain in Queens.

Lately, his relationship with Tony was strong. He was allowed to call him in the middle of the night whenever he had a nightmare, and they would talk through it, and it weirded Peter out that this was becoming normal for him. It had been about a month since Peter had first met the Avengers and his relationship was becoming better with them as well, despite him being awkward and anxious. He was even getting Bucky to soften up to him, which, in turn, caused Tony to warm a bit to the guarded soldier. Peter knew he’d have to tell the team his identity soon, and that thought was becoming slightly less daunting. He still wanted to wait though. Just a little longer for Peter to just be the intern that Tony was strangely close to.

The situation hadn’t really been that big of a deal, just the Rhino, but Tony had become slightly protective when it came to Peter’s safety as Spider-Man. So, when he’d asked for a little bit of backup in the middle of a battle that was becoming slightly worrisome, Tony, who was on a business trip for Stark Industries, decided not to send just Black Widow or Cap, but the whole Avengers team.

The Rhino soon realized that he was outmatched and surrendered very easily, so Peter was feeling good about himself. Sure, the Avengers showing up did most of the work, but he still held his own.

The Rhino, however, must not have been feeling that great. As the police stripped the thug of his metal suit, he turned back toward Peter who was standing with the other Avengers.

“You may have beaten me, but we know who you are. Just cause your fellow Avengers are stupid doesn’t mean we can’t see the obvious. I hope for Stark’s sake that you’re easily replaceable. Otherwise, he might actually feel sadness in that metal heart of his.”

The police dragged the grinning villain from the remnants of his suit and shoved him in the back of the police car.

The police shot off towards the station, and despite his heightened senses, he couldn’t hear their sirens. He couldn’t hear much of anything now that he thought about it. Oh, right, he must be panicking.

The world came back into focus as the Avengers collectively turned to him.

“What was that supposed to mean? How are we stupid?” Bucky asked.

“I don’t think that’s the question we should be asking,” Steve cut off the others, “The real question is who are they? The Rhino said ‘we’. Who is included in that?”

“But wait, how do they know, and we don’t? Are you someone we should know?” Clint asked him.

“Who are you Spider-ling?” asked Wanda.

“I think Spider-Man should have the right to a secret identity,” Steve interjected.

“Yes, but if ‘they’,” Scott replied, using finger quotations, “know, why shouldn’t we?”

“Yeah, this does seem kinda odd to me,” Sam said, towering over Peter.

“Let the Spider have a say,” Natasha retorted.

Peter’s panic had escalated. Instead of a lack of hearing, he could hear everything. The sweat sliding down the back of his neck. Sam’s muscles grating against each other as he crossed his arms. The subtle _click, click, click,_ of Bucky’s arm plates as he shifted. Wanda’s gift giving off a wind-like hum as it curled around her fingers.

“Guys, listen... I-” Peter’s breath caught as the wind-like sound grew closer. “Please don’t look inside my head,” he whispered, turning to Wanda.

She frowned at him. “How did you know that I was thinking about it?”

“I can hear it. It sounds like wind.”

Wanda smiled a little. “Wind?”

“Yeah, but slightly more metallic. Almost like a computer.”

“How does this have anything to do with what we’re discussing?” Sam asked, tugging off his goggles as he did so. “Back to the point. Who are you?”

Peter sighed, glad that, for now at least, the sounds invading his brain had died down a bit. “I can’t tell you. Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because I... just...” he stopped as a girl caught the corner of his vision. Walking up to them. He turned to her, glad that his mask covered his mouth because currently, it was wide open.

It was MJ.

“I’m sorry, guys, but could I borrow Spider-Man for a moment?” she asked as if this were the most normal thing in the world. “There’s a bit of an emergency over at my apartment.”

It took a moment for the Avengers as a whole to recover from MJ’s bluntness. Peter would have smirked if he wasn’t so shocked himself.

“Do... do you want us all to come?” Steve asked, glancing at the others.

“No.” She didn’t offer any more explanation than that.

“Sure, you can take him. We’re done with this conversation anyway,” Natasha said, glaring at the rest of the team. “We’ll leave him alone, now, won’t we?”

Her gaze was met by none of the others, which also supported Peter’s theory that she had previously talked to them about bothering him as Spider-Man.

They began shuffling back to the jet, muttering between themselves, and Peter turned to MJ.

“What seems to be the problem, miss?”

“Come with me.”

To say Peter was nervous as MJ lead him away was an understatement.

Especially when she lead him into an incredibly dark alley.

Then turned around and proceeded to say: ‘You’re welcome.’

Peter cocked his head at her. “What?”

“You’re welcome. Oh, and I wanted to say that you need to get better at coming up with excuses because from what I overheard you suck at them. You’re one of the smartest people I know and the best you can come up with is ‘because I can’t tell you?’ Pathetic.”

Peter blinked at her. “I’m sorry, but I have no idea-”

“Also, turn off that voice modifier. You sound ridiculous.”

“But-”

“Oh, and Ned canceled on our sleepover tomorrow night, so it’ll just be the two of us. Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. Oh, never mind. I’m not.”

“Wait,” Peter put up two hands as if to physically block the barrage of words coming from MJ’s mouth. “You know who I am?”

“Duh.”

“Oh.”

Silence.

“So, are you going to change into normal clothes or are we just going to keep standing here?”

“All I have on are boxers under this.”

“It’s not like I can see you, stupid. I purposefully chose a dark alley.”

“Oh. Right.” Peter hoped she was telling the truth because he could see her well enough with his heightened senses. He yanked off the mask and pressed a hand to the spider embalm on his chest, the fabric puffing out around him. He watched her expression as he changed back into civilian clothes, but it stayed as stoic as it usually did.

“You changed?”

“Yup.”

They stood there for another second, neither wanting to move.

Finally, Peter spoke up. “MJ?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for getting me out of that.”

“Whatever,” she shrugged.

“Really, I probably wouldn’t have gotten out of that one if you hadn’t been there.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t have. You’re helpless without me.”

Peter snorted. “You do know I fight crime, right? Not exactly helpless.”

“Whatever you say.”

“MJ?”

“What, loser?”

Peter hesitated, tugging on his sweater sleeve. “Can I... I um...” he sighed, shaking his head.

“Well? Spit it out.”

“I... think I like... you?”

Silence except for their breathing and the beating of their hearts. “I think you do too.”

Peter blinked. “And?”

“And what?”

“Do you...?”

“Do I what?”

Peter threw his hands up in the air even though she couldn’t see and leaned against one of the buildings. “Do you like... me?”

“I guess.”

Peter shook his head, both disappointment and relief coursing through him like adrenaline. “What does that mean?!”

“I hate you less than I hate everyone else. Also, your smile is annoying. It's distracting from my education."

“So... what does that _mean_?”

“It means, Parker, that I am asking you out. Because if I were forced to spend the rest of my life with someone, you would be the most tolerable. Even if your smile is annoyingly easy to look at.”

“You’re... asking me out,” he asked, holding his breath.

“Yes, idiot.”

Elation ripped through him so fast it was hard to talk. “Oh. Oh! Um, yes?! Yes, I... wait... you like me?”

MJ sighed. “You’re more oblivious than your Avenger friends. How many times would Ned have to cancel our trio dates before you got the idea that I was forcing him to?”

“Wait... you-?”

“You want me to walk you home? You live on a sketchy street and I wouldn’t want you getting hurt before the date.”

“Um, yes! I mean sure, I- wait, when is it?”

Peter could see her mocking face through the darkness. “The tomorrow night, remember? I told you Ned canceled. I wasn’t lying about forcing him to.”

“Ah.”

“Now, let’s get you home, idiot, before any of the Avengers try to follow where we went.”


	6. screams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, the classic Peter gets kidnapped trope that we all love (hate).
> 
> Sorry, this had to be a two-parter just because lengthwise.  
> Also, I love cliffhangers... so please don't murder me.

Tony gets a lot of phone calls from Peter. He gets them in the middle of lunch, in the middle of the night, in the middle of his meetings, in the middle of working on a project. Naturally, Peter calls when it’s most inconvenient, but Tony picks up the phone. Every. Time.

He always lets it ring once or twice, so Peter doesn’t suspect that he lives for those phone calls, and sometimes he tries to force himself to let it go to voicemail, but he can’t. Not with Peter.

And the evening that he’d forced the entire Avengers team into a game of never-have-I-ever was no different. He had actually kind of been looking forward to the game, although he didn’t let himself admit it, and even thought about inviting Peter, but after considering all the alcohol they would inevitably consume, thought better of it.

He wished he’d invited Peter.

Everyone showed up, even Scott, who was still a bit wary of him, and Bucky, who Tony could tell was trying to ease the tension between them.

The game hadn’t even started yet when he’d gotten the call, and he excused himself as Natasha was topping off everyone’s shots.

“Oh, come on, Stark, you’re not his parent. Just let it go to voicemail,” Sam said, raising his shot. “We know you’re just trying to get out of this round.”

Tony smirked. “Please, I rarely lose. If it makes you feel better, you can wait. This probably won’t take long anyways.”

In classic Stark fashion, he let it ring once before answering. “What’s up kid? Kinda in the middle of something-”

“Can it, Stark,” a cold female voice cut him off on the other end. “Michelle here. You probably know who I am from Peter’s constant rambling about me.” Tony frowned at the unmistakable tremor in her voice.

“Yeah, yeah, I know who you are, why do you have Pete’s phone? Is he alright?”

The rest of the team caught the concern in Tony’s slightly raised voice and their conversations paused, as they turned to listen.

“No, he is most definitely not alright. My boyfriend has been kidnapped, and if you don’t find him in the next twenty-four hours than I will personally drive my father's truck to your sad excuse for a home and murder every single one of you.”

She was saying something else, but he couldn’t hear her. He... he-

“Tony!” Steve’s voice. Sounded like it was coming from underwater. Was he drowning? He didn’t know. He didn’t feel like he knew much of anything at that moment. It was like his old man used to say: ‘What’s the use of being a Stark if you can’t use your brain? Pathetic.’ He _was_ pathetic. Peter. Peter. _Peter._ Not again. He couldn’t lose Peter again.

“Tony, you need to stop rambling. Focus! Please!”

Steve was shaking his shoulders and it took a moment to realize that everyone had stood and was staring at him. Then he processed Steve’s words.

Wait, had he been talking out loud?

“Yes, yes you are talking out loud, just please, I need you to talk in coherent sentences. What did Peter say?!”

Tony looked at the phone in his hand. MJ was still on the other end. He forced his thumb to move over to the speakerphone button and press it.

“Tony? _Tony Stark are you listening to me?!_ You need to find him! _Find Peter_!”

“Yes. Yes, I will. I will find Peter. Yes. I will do that.” Tony pulled himself from Peter’s grip and sprinted to the elevator, Steve close behind. The others started yelling at their backs, but they’d already entered and started descending before anyone could ask any questions.

“Tony, where’s Peter? What’s going on?” Steve asked.

“Is someone else with you, Stark? Is that Captain America?”

Steve grabbed the phone from Tony’s hand. “Yes, yes, this is Steve. Can you explain to me what’s going on? Tony’s kind of... out of it.”

 _That’s an understatement,_ a small, semi-coherent part of Tony’s brain spat at him, but the rest of him didn’t care. The rest of him had begun this constant chant of ‘Find Peter. Find Peter. Find Peter.’

“FRIDAY? Start up my lab. I want every security camera in Queens up. Cell phone cameras. Traffic lights. Run Facial recognition. Track his suit. Pull up Baby Monitor. Check his watch.” He let his brain take over, not really thinking about the words coming out of his mouth, just letting the routine control his tongue.

MJ was explaining to Cap what was happening, obviously trying to keep the emotion out of her voice, but not really succeeding.

“How did you get his phone?” Tony interjected, trying to _focus_.

“I saw it happen,” Tony recognized the robotic tone she’d assumed. He was currently using it. “He dropped his phone as they were grabbing him, and I watched from around the corner. I knew I couldn’t do anything, so I recorded it. I figured you would have a better chance of taking them out than me. Plus, if I had died, Peter would have probably murdered me, so...”

“You got a video?”

“Yeah.”

“You are brilliant, and I approve. Send it to me, I’ll run facial recognition.”

“I’ll send it to you, but I already know who it is. I saw their boss in the back of the van.”

Tony held his breath. “Who is it?”

“Justin Hammer.”

 

Really, the whole thing was a bit stupid. If it weren’t for the handcuffs he would have most definitely busted out of there in an instant. Not involved Tony Stark or the Avengers. Life would have gone on.

But Justin Hammer had freaking adamantium handcuffs. The sedative was cheap. The pillowcase was amateur. They’d laid him on an extremely crude wooden table. So how the heck did he get his hands on enough adamantium for handcuffs? And for both pairs that held each arm to two corners of the table! Maybe he had the formula to create the metal. Peter would have to see if he could get his hands on that. For research purposes, of course. All he had to do was get out of his bonds.

Not so simple, though. He’d been working on them ever since the sedative had worked its way through his system, only stalling when someone walked past the door to the room he was in. He couldn’t see due to the pillowcase on his head, but his hearing picked up on the way that the sound of the handcuffs clicking together bounced off the walls. His room was small, he could tell by the way he could hear the almost echo of the clicks. The slamming of doors and pattering of feet told him that his was not the only room in whatever building he was in, nor was he the only person.

Yet, despite everything he’d learned, his handcuffs hadn’t yielded at all.

He slumped in defeat just seconds before the door burst open and two sets of footsteps entered.

“You up yet, Spider kid? This can’t go on without you, you know.”

 _Justin Hammer._ Peter remembered seeing him in the back of the van that they’d tossed him in, just as the sedative had caused him to pass out.

He refused to respond.

The pillowcase was whipped off his head, and he blinked at the light of a lamp glaring down at his face.

“Ah, Pete, you are awake. Thank goodness for that! This would have been so boring without you!”

“You... you were the one getting those guys to break into the compound. And the Rhino. You were behind him too?”

“Cute _and_ smart!” Justin’s grin was too white, too sterile, too fake. Not like Tony. He was nothing like Tony. “Wherever did Mr. Stark find you?”

Peter huffed a laugh. “Queens.”

“And a bit of a smart alec! Let’s see if we can change that!” Peter saw Justin wave the other guy who’d entered towards him. He walked forward and placed a silver briefcase on the remaining space on the table. “My friend Alexander here has some surprises in store for you. If you cooperate, this will be... well, still painful, but less so. Here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to do a little experimentation. See what makes you tick. You’re a mystery waiting to be solved, and it’s a bit sad that Stark couldn’t see that! Sure, it might be a tad uncomfortable for you, but there’s nothing we can do about that because your metabolism burns through all our painkillers. Then, we’re going to get Tony to find you and once he shows up, we’re going to make you scream. This is where I need you. The louder you scream, the quicker we’ll let you go.”

Peter frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense, why would you-?”

“Because, my little Spider-ling, it will destroy him. And then it will be hilariously easy to kill him. After that, you’ll be free to go.”

“Why? Why do you want to kill him?”

“He’s done enough to me and to the rest of this world. I’m doing everyone a favor!”

Peter chuckled, hatred giving away his pretense of amusement, as he looked into Justin’s lifeless eyes. “You know how many people have tried to kill Tony Stark? A lot. He's still alive. And most of them are dead.”

“Yes, well, there’s a first time for everything. Besides, I have one thing none of the others had. You!” He grinned and patted Peter’s arm. “I like you, Peter. For your sake, I hope you pass out. Alex, you may proceed.”

Peter did pass out eventually. It took a day and a half, but he passed out.

It didn’t take him much longer to realize that you can still scream in your sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Constructive criticism appreciated.
> 
> I know that MJ seeing Peter getting kidnapped and doing nothing but record what was happening seems a bit cold, but most people, if they saw someone getting kidnapped, would have jumped in and died, and MJ is smarter than that in my opinion. That doesn't mean she doesn't care. She very much does. She just uses her brain.


	7. father and son

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I guess it's going to be a three-parter, sorry :)  
> Also, I deeply apologize for making you read this, it will get better I promise!
> 
> Another cliff-hanger I'm sorry for that as well.

It took him two days to find out where they’d taken him. He’d made twenty-four calls, sent fifty-seven texts, and face-timed MJ, Ned, and May at least five times each. May was understandably hysterical. MJ had a pretense of calm that was fading by the hour. Ned was crying every time he picked up. Tony was... coping. He was coping by reminding himself all of the twisted things he would do to that second-rate sad excuse of a human Justin Hammer as soon as he got his hands on him.

“Not my kid,” Tony found himself muttering every time he dwelt on what was happening. “You don’t touch my kid.”

The other Avengers had camped out in Tony’s lab, Nat and Banner taking over the computer-ing whenever the others forced him to sleep. Everyone was worried. Bucky was surprisingly emotional about it all, only seeming to calm a bit when standing next to Steve.

“He’s too much like you.” Tony had heard him mutter to Cap. “It’s almost like losing you.” It was at that moment that Tony realized he might have misjudged the super soldier. He would have apologized if he wasn’t so distraught.

His relationship with Wanda strengthened as well. When he protested to the rest of the team that he wouldn’t be able to sleep, she gave him that small smile of hers and sent him into dreamless unconsciousness. He may have gotten mad about that, but he really did need the sleep.

Pepper had flown back to the compound as fast as she could after she got the call from Bruce, Rhodey in tow. They couldn’t do much to help search, but their support meant more to him than he could say. May showed up early the second day, and Tony tried to explain what was going on, but it must have been obvious to her what Peter’s kidnapping was doing to his body that she told him to stop talking and eat something.

“If you try finding my nephew in the state you’re in, it will take weeks,” she’d said, tears pooling in her eyes. After extracting a promise from him that he would eat, she was intercepted by Clint (which was a bit of a surprise to Tony) and they talked for a while. He must have understood a bit what it was like to fear for your child.

Scott and Falcon were both out in Queens searching, because they seemed to get along fine, and were both so anxious about the situation that they were freaking Tony out even more than he already was. Steve had told them they were more use out searching for the van, or a license plate, or the goons that they’d seen in Michelle’s video. Scott had even recruited Hope to help, even though she wasn’t technically an Avenger (yet), and Hank, who helped Tony search computer-wise from the other lab.

Then Justin Hammer sent him a facetime.

He somehow got it to override his protocols and the video popped up at about noon of the second day.

Justin’s plastic smile covered most of the screen. “Hello, Tony. If you haven’t figured out that I orchestrated this than you’re an idiot. If you have, well, good for you. I have your little intern with me. Say hi to the camera, Pete.”

Peter didn’t say hi. He just screamed from somewhere behind Justin.

Justin winced in mock sympathy. “Ooh. That wasn’t supposed to happen. I told you guys not to hit any nerves.”

Tony was dry sobbing, no more tears left to spend. He was just glad that May was in the other room.

“FRIDAY track,” Nat muttered, quiet enough that Justin wouldn’t hear.

“I said, Peter say hi to Mr. Stark.”

He screamed again, taking a minute to recover and managed a ‘H-hey Mr. Stark,’ in a strained voice.

“Is there anything you’d like to say to Peter, Tony?” Justin said, moving out of the view of the camera, so Tony could see Peter. He was spread-eagled on a wooden table, abdomen cut open along with one of his legs, and you could see gleaming muscle. He had a bruise on one side of his face and a couple incisions on his pectorals, slightly healed over. His body shook with every breath, and Tony could tell his healing factor was working over-time, closing the gaps in his legs and over his stomach millimeter by millimeter. A few men were working on cutting open one arm, masks over their face.

Tony sobbed. “I love you,” he whispered, “I will find you.”

Peter stared at the screen. He wasn’t crying. His eyes were completely dry. He was such a strong kid. “I love you too.”

“Aw, isn’t that sweet. A bit like father-and-son don’t you think?” Justin’s voice floated through the audio as if the sight of a kid in such a condition warmed his heart. “Well, that’s all for now. Let’s see how long this little hero lasts. He’s just a mystery waiting to be unraveled, isn’t he Tony? Did you even think to explore what he can do?”

“You’re a maniac,” Tony spat. “He’s a kid.”

“Please, he’s seventeen. A teenager. How innocent could he be?”

“Well you obviously don’t know Peter very well,” Natasha muttered, typing furiously on the keyboard to Tony’s right.

“Is that Natasha? Romanoff? It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I’m willing to bet a lot of money that I know more about Peter than you do.”

“I’d take that bet. What’s his favorite thing to do on the weekends?” she asked sharply, still working on tracking where the video was coming from.

Justin was silent.

“Hanging out with all the Avengers,” she supplied. “You wanted Tony to find you, but he won’t be the only one.” She stopped typing long enough to lean over into the view of the camera. “You’ve taken our kid. And nothing short of divine intervention can keep you from the hell we are going to bring down on your head.”

Justin reached forward, and the video blinked off.

Nat looked at the rest of the grim-looking team. “I found him.”

 

Peter sobbed as the video cut out. Tony... Tony had looked miserable and it was all his fault. If he hadn’t been so bad at hiding his identity. If he hadn’t gotten kidnapped. If, if, if.

“Please,” he whispered to no one in particular. “Let me go.”

Justin whipped around towards him, face contorted in a snarl. “Will they come? The Avengers?”

Peter opened his mouth, but nothing came out except a small whimper.

“Step back,” Justin told the makeshift surgeons. He pulled the taser from his belt. Answer me, or I’ll use it. Are the Avengers coming to rescue you?”

Peter shook, eyes locked on the weapon as Justin activated it, electricity dancing in his feral eyes. _“Answer me, child!”_

“I don’t know! I don’t _know_ , please, don’t... no... _please!_ If there is anything - _NO!_ ” he writhed as the taser came into contact with his skin. He counted each second that his muscles locked, and his bones shook. One. Two. Three.

Justin pulled away.

“Will the Avengers come, or not?”

Peter sobbed. “I. Don’t. Know. Please, sir. Let me _go_.”

Justin growled and stabbed the electricity-wreathed stick into his side.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Peter lost count. He screamed, and he screamed, and he eventually tore the table in half, which was the seventh one they’d had to replace, but he didn’t cry. He would be strong. He would make Tony proud.

As the offensive object left his skin, he blinked the spots from his eyes and found himself cowering in a corner. His wounds had partially healed over, but he was still bleeding from some of them. They’d been careful to avoid as many arteries as possible, but they’d still hit a few, causing the iron stench of blood to curl around him and encase him in his own senses. As he blinked the spots from his eyes, he saw Justin leaning down to his level, looking him straight in the eyes.

“I will ask you one more time, kid.”

 _“Don’t_ _call me that.”_

“I’ll ask you one more time, _Spider-Man,_ ” Justin said, sneering. “Are the Avengers, coming, or not?”

Peter trembled, hate oozing from him like the blood from his wounds. “You heard her. They’ll unleash hell.”

Justin scoffed, and reached forward with the taser, pressing it to his temple. Peter screamed, slamming his eyes shut and lunging towards Justin’s neck, effectively stopping the torture, but two men hurried forward and grabbed both his arms before he could latch on.

“Oh, resorting to killing, are we? I may have created a monster,” Justin said with a façade of calm, but Peter could tell he was a bit rattled at the attempt on his life.

Justin Hammer turned to the others. “Bring him to the main room, I want him chained to the titanium table, please. Don’t want him breaking out while the others are here. And sew him up so he isn’t bleeding all over the place.” His voice dipped in disgust as if Peter’s bleeding was an embarrassing habit of his, like wetting himself or picking his nose.

The two men dragged him out the door and into a hallway. He tried to memorize the path they were taking, but blissful sleep overcame him before they’d even turned the first corner.

 

“They’re below sea level, it looks like, in an old underground prison in Queens. It was more recently connected to a sewer system, but it looks like Mr. Hammer has converted it back into what it used to be,” Natasha explained, showing them the layout of the building she was talking about. “I would assume he has soldiers. We should send everyone in.”

“Copy that,” Steve said, directing everyone to the elevator. “Everyone, suit up, it’s rescuing time. Bruce, you stay here and monitor. We don’t want the Hulk hurting Peter at all.”

“Why would he want Peter, anyway? What’s he got to gain?” Clint muttered under his breath for the thousandth time.

Tony shook his head as he tapped his watch and summoned his suit around him. “More than you know.”

 

Steve was explaining the plan, but Tony wasn’t paying him any attention. They had to play this right. Otherwise, Peter could end up dead and he couldn’t deal with that. It had been hard enough not resorting to alcohol when he’d been snapped out of existence, but him being tortured to death? Tony shook, staring at everything and nothing, willing the quinjet to _go faster_.

“I’ll get the kid,” he said.

The rest of the team went silent. Steve nodded slowly.

“Okay, Tony.”

He went back to explaining. “Our job is to get Peter out of there. Once someone finds him, alert the rest of the team, and Tony, like you said, you’ll most likely have to carry him. The rest of us will have to fight our way out. No detours to kill Justin Hammer yet. We’ll wait and do that after the kid is safe, got it?” he was looking at Natasha, and she shrugged.

“Alright, but I make no promises once Peter is on the quinjet.”

“I get first dibs,” Tony said to no one in particular.

Steve just nodded again. “I think that goes without saying.”

Everyone went silent for a while, wallowing in their thoughts. In the short time that they’d know him, they’d all gotten extremely attached to the young boy who made them watch sci-fi with him and fixed up their tech.

They understood why Tony acted the way he did. Almost like a father.

Wanda, who had chosen a seat next to Tony, reached her hand out.

“That’s okay, I don’t want to sleep,” he murmured staring at her outstretched hand.

She shook her head. “This is not an offering of my gift. It is of comfort to a friend.”

Their eyes meet. The grief and pain were almost tangible in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“For what?” she asked, resorting back to her Sykovian accent for a split second. Sometimes it slipped through the training that Nat had given her on mimicking. It was not meant to be a reminder of what Tony had done to her, but the guilt still woke him up at night.

“Ruining you.”

She held her hand out closer to his. “If you had not ruined me, I would not have found the family that I have now. What you did... was not okay. But you did it unknowingly. And you did your best to fix it. That means something to me. Besides, if not for you, I would not have ever met Vision.”

Tony reached out to grasp her hand, metal encasing flesh. “I’m not sure if that was a gift.”

“It is as much a gift as this,” she said, red curling around her free hand. “And as much of a curse. But both were my choice. And I do not regret either.”

Tony nodded, mind beginning to sink back to Peter.

“We will find him. I am sure of it.”

“I know we will. I’m just hoping... he’ll recover from whatever that psychopath did to him. If he’s even alive.”

“He is alive. He is a survivor. And he will recover.”

“How do you know?” Tony whispered, jerking his head in her direction.

“Because _I_ did.”

 

Peter woke up to the sound of Justin panicking.

“They aren’t supposed to be here yet, we didn’t send out the distress call!” Justin was rummaging with equipment to Peter’s right.

He looked down at himself to find that they had indeed stitched him up, but it was a ragtag job, the stitches uneven and most of them bleeding. The pain didn’t double as he woke, it had been such a constant that even in sleep he felt it, eating away at him. His muscles were still twitchy from the constant zapping, and the sight of the taser hanging on Justin Hammer’s belt made him puke off to the side, a lot of it landing on the new titanium-alloy table that they’d brought in so he wouldn’t break it.

His handcuffs were the same, rope around his ankles. Fancy-looking equipment lay around the room, which was much larger than the previous one. The walls were lined with soldiers, all with guns about half their height.

“That’s disgusting, someone can you clean this up?” Justin said, waving his hand at the vomit that had begun to spill onto the concrete floor.

A few guys ran over with a mop and began wiping away the imperfections.

“Did they come?” Peter managed, turning to Justin. “Are they here?”

He just sneered. “Unfortunately they are a bit earlier than planned.”

“If you know anything about Mr. Stark, it’s that he’s never one to follow what’s planned,” Peter retorted, trying to hold on to consciousness through the pain.

Before the man could respond, the roof crashed in.

Peter was quite sure that he was in a pain-induced delirium because they were _here._ It took them two days, but they were here and they had come for him. Iron Man stepped from the cloud of dust in full metal regalia, Falcon swooping in from above, and Clint not far behind.

Clint aimed an arrow straight at Justin Hammer’s heart, but the _click_ of the safety releasing on multiple guns stalled all three Avenger’s movements.

“Drop your weapons or I’ll tell them to kill the kid,” Justin said, motioning to the guards surrounding them.

Peter turned his head towards Justin. “I _told_ you not to call me that.”

“We got eyes on the prize,” Clint murmured, quiet enough that Justin didn’t hear.

“What do you want, Hammer?” Tony asked, voice shaking, and Peter met the suit’s eyes. Even they held more warmth than Justin Hammer’s.

“Everything. Your suits, your Compound, your tech, everything. And then I want you dead.” Justin said, pulling the taser off his belt. “But first, I want to see you suffer.”

Peter tensed, pulling as far away as physically possible while still being held by the cuffs. “Please,” he whispered, “please, please no, not again, don’t- not the electricity-!” A scream ripped its way through his throat, tearing up his already raw vocal cords. He could hear Tony’s yells over his own screams, and more joined him as the other Avengers began to come in from above.

But Justin Hammer’s voice hovered above it all. “One step closer and I’ll kill him.”

Then the stick of electricity was gone, but his muscles couldn’t recognize that, still tense and twitching.

“I’ll give you everything,” Tony murmured, but Peter turned to the maniac to his right.

“A bullet won’t kill me,” he said, loud enough for the whole room to hear.

“Uh, kid-” Sam said, but Peter cut him off.

“Do you know how many times I’ve been shot and walked it off?” he snapped. No one said anything.

The helmet retreated into Iron Man’s suit. “Peter,” he whispered.

Peter held Justin’s stare. “You don’t know? Yeah, well me neither because it’s happened too many times. You may think you hold power, but all you hold is a stick that sparkles and a couple of goons.”

“What is the kid talking about?” Clint asked no one in particular.

“Has he gone mad?” Wanda whispered, but Tony just shook his head.

Justin smirked. “Bold words for someone who’s screams I am well acquainted with. Almost reminds me of someone.” He turned to Tony. “Like-father-like-son, am I right?”

Then he shocked Peter. Over and over and over, and Peter puked three times before Justin stalled. When he managed to look up, the Avengers were cowering, Tony on his knees and screaming as well. Bucky had pressed his hands against his ears, and Captain America was crying.

“All this for one boy?” Justin chuckled, pulling out his own gun and turning it toward’s Tony’s vulnerable head. “Pathetic.” Tony didn’t even move, just staring down the barrel of the gun, before his gaze met Peter’s and he mouthed ‘I’m sorry.’

“You will not touch my dad.”

Justin hesitated at that. “What did you just say?”

“You will not touch Tony.”

“I don’t think that’s what you-”

“You _will not touch him or I will kill you. And I will take my time doing it!”_

The Avengers seemed to freeze at that, and Justin laughed nervously. “And what makes you think you could ever get close enough to hurt me? Those are adamantium handcuffs boy.”

“I know that,” Peter grunted through the pain, “but you’ve forgotten one thing.”

“And what is that?”

“I’m Spider-Man.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, I know I updated really fast, and it was because it was as much of a cliffhanger for me as it was for you guys, the next part might take a bit longer.
> 
> Thank you so much for all your support, even if a couple of people hated me for that last chapter, I will make it better!


	8. I'm Spider-Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the last piece of this fic! Don't worry more domestic fluff planned for this series, I'm not quite finished yet!  
> There are a few parts of this that I didn't really love, but I couldn't take them out without it flowing well, so sorry. Thank you all SO much for reading this, it means so much that you appreciate it.

The anger in Peter’s eyes as he snapped at Justin Hammer was nothing Tony had ever seen before. The innocence was gone, the kindness was gone, the mercy was gone. Everything that made Peter, Peter... wiped away as if it had never existed. But no, that wasn’t quite true. Because the fierce protectiveness was there, the selflessness.

And the ability to drop a bomb like revealing his identity and act like it wouldn’t have consequences.

“I’m Spider-Man.”

The expressions on his fellow teammates might have been funny, but Tony was too focused on the kid, on his _son_ in all ways except physical, to even look at the others. He knew what Peter was going to try to do. He opened his mouth to stop him, but Peter had never been one to wait for permission.

If he hadn’t been watching, he would have never believed what happened next.

Peter didn’t bend the cuffs, no.

He _shattered_ them.

Tony probably couldn’t scientifically explain how he did it. Perhaps it was the fact that he’d been straining against them for two days and it finally got too much for the metal. Perhaps it was the adrenaline pumping through the child’s veins that gave him enough strength to break them. Perhaps it was a combination of the two.

It didn’t really matter how he did it, just that he did. The ropes around his ankles were nothing to him. As soon as he was free of them, he lunged, not towards Justin, but towards Tony _._ A single gunshot rang through the room.

And Peter _caught_ the bullet that Justin had just shot at Tony with his bare hand.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment. Everyone gaped at Peter, Justin, the Avengers, even Tony himself.

“Ow,” Peter muttered and dropped the piece of metal.

No one moved. Tony glanced over at the others and, excluding Cap and Natasha, they were all looking at Peter like he’d just... well, caught a bullet.

“Man, what the he-” Sam was cut off by Justin screaming at his men.

_“KILL THEM! WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR?!”_

When Tony had blasted through the ceiling and saw Peter chained to a table with enough stitches in his body to make him look like a creation of Frankenstein’s, Tony had assumed Peter would need to be physically carried out of there.

He had never been more wrong in his life.

Despite the pain of being cut open and shocked over and over for two days straight, Peter ran to the metal table that they’d initially laid him on and slammed it into the bodies of three of the soldiers.

And all hell broke loose.

The Avengers sprang into action, doing their best to shield Peter from the bullets, but Peter was having none of that. He ran straight at Justin Hammer, murder in his eyes, and tackled him, slamming him into a concrete wall.

With Peter’s life not on the line, the Avenger’s took out most of the gunman relatively quickly. They only began to stall when Justin’s pleads became audible.

Justin was on the ground, arms pinned to his sides, and Peter sitting on his stomach. Peter was holding the taser above his head, shaking so uncontrollably, Tony doubted that he would have been able to hit Justin with it even if he wanted to.

“I told you! _I told you to stay away from them!”_ Peter screamed, breathing heavily. “Why are you like this? _What made you like this?!”_ he spat as if such evil was so foreign to him that he couldn’t’ believe another human could do such a thing.

“Why?” he was sobbing. “Why?”

Justin shook his head. “I don’t- please, Peter, please kid, I-”

_“I told you not to call me that.”_

Peter threw the taser to the side and punched Justin in the face. One. Two. Three times.

“Pete?”

Peter hesitated, fist still raised above Justin’s head, and turned back to look at Tony with a look so fragile, it broke him.

Great, now Tony was crying again.

“C’mere, kid,” he whispered, stepping out of the suit and holding out his arms.

Peter lunged at him so fast, he thought he was going to fall over, wrapping his arms around his mentor and crying into his shirt. “I’m so sorry, dad. I’m sorry.”

Tony blinked. “What did you say?”

Peter shook his head, not emerging from where his head was tucked into Tony’s chest.

“C’mon, kid, what did you call me?”

“Tony,” he insisted.

“I don’t think so.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Mmm, not what I heard.”

“Now you’re hearing things? You really are... getting... old,” the laugh may have been believable if Tony couldn’t feel the tears still seeping through his shirt. But Tony didn’t say anything, just let the boy pull comfort from his father-figure.

He held him as the others stared.

He held him as Justin tried to get up.

He held him as he nodded to Natasha, who in turn nodded to Bucky, who raised their guns at the same time and fired. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six times. Tony lost count. Maybe he’d been wrong. His job wasn’t to extract revenge. He had two assassins for that. His job was to be there for Peter when his Aunt couldn’t be. His job was to stay with his kid.

And if that meant standing in the middle of an underground facility, holding him while he cried into his shirt and as Justin Hammer bled out on the floor, then so be it.

Then Sam had to ruin it. “So, Spider-Man, huh? I should have known Peter was that spandex-wearing punk.”

Then Peter laughed, and it was worth it. “Yeah, yeah, I love you too Sam.”

Sam tried to hide it, but he was beaming the entire trip back on the quinjet. As the others were trying to get Peter to sleep, which was a hard task when he was so pumped on adrenaline, Tony walked over to the winged Avenger and smirked.

Sam scowled. “What?”

“You know what. You’ve been grinning ever since the little Spider-ling told you how much you meant to him. He grows on you, doesn’t he?”

“Shut up, man.”

Tony just chuckled. “Hey, it’s okay. He’s grown on all of us.”

“Yeah, what was him calling you dad all about?”

“No, he’s not my illegitimate child, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Sam laughed. “Just checking.”

“It was a one-time thing. It’ll be Mr. Stark again tomorrow.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

Tony just laughed again and walked over to where Peter was being crowded out by the others. “All right, all right, guys. Break it up, he’s not going to get any sleep with you guys hovering.”

“That includes you!” Clint called over his shoulder as he walked over to the cockpit, where FRIDAY was piloting them. “I’ll take this Fri, do a maintenance check on everyone’s gear.”

Tony rolled his eyes and sat next to Peter, who leaned into him almost immediately as if his timidness had vanished. Cap smirked at him, and Tony raised one hand and flipped him off.

“I’m sorry,” Peter whispered.

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know.”

Tony sighed. “Get some rest, Spider-kid.”

“Spider- _Man_ ,” Peter mumbled, already half- asleep.

“How?” Scott muttered when he looked up twenty minutes later and saw Peter passed out on Tony’s shoulder. “Cassie never falls asleep on me! It’s happened, like, twice in my entire life, and I’m her actual dad!”

Tony just shrugged with one shoulder. “I’ve got the magic touch, Lang. It’s not something you can learn.”

Scott grumbled something under his breath about how it wasn’t actual magic, and how Starks were stupid, but all of Peter’s muscles tensing in his sleep kinda distracted Tony a bit.

Peter relaxed. Tensed. Relaxed. Whimpered. Tensed. Shook. Relaxed. Tensed. Over and over his entire body flexed as if his muscles were being stimulated all at the same time. It hit him. “The taser. He’s having a nightmare.”

His gaze snapped to Wanda, who looked pained. “He really doesn’t want me inside his head. It made him freak out every time I hinted at it.”

Tony looked back at Peter who had started crying silently, then back at Wanda. “Well, he’s freaking out now! Please, Wanda, I need him to be okay.”

She nodded slowly, walking over to where they were sitting and placed her hands on Peter’s head. Everyone watched. No one breathed.

Wanda closed her eyes and Peter immediately melted back into his relaxed position, pulling himself closer to Tony. Wanda wrenched her hands away, breathing heavily.

Tony frowned. “What? What’s wrong.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, sitting on the ground and trying to still her breathing. “It’s usually... difficult... to alter dreams anyway... but...” Wanda took another breath and looked up at Tony with glossy eyes. “Peter... has been through much. Much more than I initially expected.”

“Like what?”

Wanda shook her head. “There is nothing solid... memories aren’t like that. They’re just snapshots. Moments. His uncle. The snap. Panic Attacks. The building falling. Being electrocuted. Falling from the sky. Nightmares. Being torn open.” She slammed her eyes shut. “It’s like I was living his life, but only the worst parts of it.”

Tony sighed, stringing a hand through Peter’s curls.

“That kid is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders,” Bucky said, giving Tony a surprisingly pointed look. “Reminds me of someone.”

Tony gave another half-shrug, smirking. “What can I say? He takes after his mentor.”

“Exactly how long did you know Peter was the Spider-boy?” Scott asked, crossing his arms.

Tony laughed. “Since before you showed up, buddy. I knew before his aunt did. Or anyone else for that matter.”

“How’d you get him to tell you?” Nat asked, cocking her head.

“I walked into his apartment and pulled out his poorly hidden costume and told him he was coming to Germany with me.” Tony retorted.

The others went quiet until Sam shattered the silence. “Wait, seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. I needed an extra set of webs.”

“You just tossed him into a fight like that? Tony, come on,” Cap chided, but Bucky laughed.

“You’re one to talk, Steve.”

That effectively shut him up. Tony shared a smirk with the Winter Soldier, then blinked, surprised how easy it was to get along with him.

“Like I said before, Captain Handsome, he’s quite a bit like you. If I hadn’t given him the suit, he would’ve just kept swinging around in those pajamas of his. Besides, _I_ wasn’t the one who dropped an airplane hangar on his head,” Tony said, looking back at Peter and combing his fingers through his hair again.

The quinjet went silent after that, most in a pensive mood, thinking back on the events of the day. Tony tried to block out the memories of Peter lying incapacitated on that table. The way he’d reacted to being electrocuted. His screams. Justin Hammer’s cocky smile, like he knew that even if he didn’t succeed in killing Tony, what he was doing would haunt the billionaire even more so than Thanos had. More so than his own capture.

He was so used to shaking at this point that he didn’t notice he was doing it until Steve walked over and pressed a hand on his arm gently but sternly, trying to calm him. It worked somewhat, but he knew that he would never be the same. Peter would never be the same.

He knew the nightmares would haunt them both. He knew Peter would be different than he was before. He knew that Peter might never completely recover from what Justin did to him. Might even be broken. But Tony was a mechanic. And he knew better than most that broken wasn’t the same as unfixable.

 

It took a while, but eventually, everyone got back into the swing of life. As soon as they got back, Tony took Peter to the medical wing of the compound to have him restitched and put on pain meds. Right after that May gave him the longest hug he’s ever gotten from someone who wasn’t Pepper and then demanded to see her son. He led her to Peter’s hospital room where the only people allowed in were Bruce, Tony, May, and eventually, MJ and Ned were allowed entrance as they showed up ten minutes after they’d gotten back and threatened their way in. The others waited up for hours until the procedures were finished and immediately crowded into his hospital room to see him. Sam claimed they ‘just wanted answers about Spider-Man’ and they ‘hadn’t been worried at all’, but Tony could see the relief in their eyes when they saw him up and grinning like he usually was. May ushered MJ and Ned out when the others came in so that Peter could have some time with the Avengers, but Tony decided to stay just in case he needed to bail him out of any awkward situations.

“So...” Cap started out, “I know I knew before most of these guys, but how exactly did you get your powers?”

“Figures he knew,” Scott muttered, but everyone ignored him.

Tony could tell Peter was anxious by the way he pulled at his sleeve, but he seemed much more comfortable with the team now than he had been before.

“Well,” he started, “I, um... was bit by a genetically enhanced spider.”

When he didn’t elaborate, Bucky frowned at him. “That’s it? And you got... spider abilities? Is that why you shoot webs? Does it come out of you?”

“What? Nohohoho... I make it! That would be...” Peter stuck out his tongue. “But yeah, that’s it. Just a spider from Oscorp.”

“Oscorp? Ew,” Tony interjected, “Where’d you get anything from Oscorp?”

“We were on a field trip, Mr. Stark. It’s nothing personal, I promise.”

“Wait, so you made those webs? The ones that stuck us to the floor?” Sam asked, finding a chair and pulling it close to Peter’s bed, so he wouldn’t have to stand.

“Yeah... why?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “I don’t know if you know this, kid, but most children your age don’t just... invent things.”

“Look who’s talking,” Natasha said, smirking.

Tony made a face at her.

Peter shrugged. “I couldn’t get around the city by crawling on the sides of buildings. That might take too long.”

“So, you _can_ stick to things?” Wanda asked, interested.

“Yup.”

“Anything?”

Peter cocked his head. “Not sure. Everything I’ve tried to stick to has worked so far... except when it rains.” He shot a look at Tony. “Anything new on that front?”

“I shot my theory by Bruce. He said he might have some ideas, but we’ll see.”

“What else can you do?” said Steve.

“Let’s see,” Peter looked to the ceiling, holding up his hand so he could count on his fingers. “I’ve got enhanced strength, agility, flexibility, the ability to stick to things, faster reflexes, and that one thing that doesn’t really have a name yet.”

Tony barked a laugh. “Your spidey-sense?”

“I don’t _like_ that name!”

“Yes, you do. We’re calling it that.”

“No we’re-” Peter cut himself off with a growl.

Scott frowned, voicing the question everyone else was thinking. “What is ‘spidey-sense’?”

Peter sighed deeply, glaring at Tony, who was pointedly avoiding his gaze. “I just call it spider-anxiety cause it freaks me out every time it happens. You know when you're about to kill a spider, and you slam your hand down to kill it, but somehow it knew a split second before it was squished and manages to get away? That’s basically where whatever this is comes from. Except its amped up so if _anything’s_ coming at me, my body automatically dodges it even if it’s like a pen or something. It makes it super difficult whenever Flash shoots a spitball at me, cause falling out of my chair in the middle of class to avoid a spitball isn’t exactly... normal.”

“Wait... so you can dodge something even if your other senses have no idea that it’s coming at you. You can’t hear it at all or whatever,” asked Bucky.

“Yup. It’s my sixth sense, I guess.”

Steve nodded. “That’s pretty convenient.”

“You have a pretty extensive list of powers,” Natasha noted, leaning in. “How’d you get yourself kidnapped?”

Peter pouted, crossing his arms, so he looked even more childish than he usually did. “Turns out my spidey-senses can’t distinguish between threats and annoyances. I usually don’t pay attention to them much unless I’m in a battle or they’re going crazy because they go off a lot. Most of the time, I don’t full out ignore them, but I had just dropped MJ off on her street and was a bit distracted.” He blushed and Tony grinned at him.

“So I heard she was your girlfriend now. Did you finally make your move?”

Peter laughed nervously. “Technically, she asked me out, but... the details aren’t important.”

“Ooh, Spider-boy has a girlfriend? Do we know her?” Wanda asked, sitting down on the edge of Peter’s bed.

“Yeah,” Tony answered. “She’s the scary girl that threatened her way into the compound.”

“Ooohhh,” the Avengers said, almost in complete unison.

Sam raised an eyebrow at Peter. “You sir, are braver than I gave you credit for.”

Peter laughed again, “What? What’d she do?”

“What didn’t she do?” Bucky asked, throwing his hands in the air. “That girl is freaky.”

Bruce appeared in the doorway before Peter could respond, telling everyone that Spider-Man needed his rest if he wanted to get back to normal. Peter’s eyes seemed to dim a bit as Bruce ushered everyone out, and Tony walked over to the bed, resting his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Get some rest kid. You’ll be back to patrolling in a few days.”

Peter scrunched up his nose. “I don’t want to sleep.”

Tony sighed. “Do you want me to get Wanda-?”

“No, no. I don’t like people inside my head... I just wish I could be awake all the time. It’s easier to forget when the Avengers are fussing over you, you know?”

Tony huffed a laugh. “I happen to know exactly what you’re talking about. But you need sleep.”

“I know.”

Tony hesitated, not wanting to leave, but unsure if he should remain.

It was as if Peter read his mind. “Can you... stay with me? Is that weird?” he asked, eyes glassy.

“No, it’s not weird. Of course, I’ll stay,” he replied, sitting down in the chair next to the bed. “Just get some sleep.”

Peter didn’t respond, already closing his eyes. FRIDAY dimmed the lights automatically, and Tony found himself dozing as well.

The nightmares would come. They would haunt both of them for a while.

But not this night.

For tonight, at least, they shielded each other from the terrors of sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism is always appreciated (emphasis on constructive)
> 
> Tell me what you think!


End file.
